2. Main Points
There have been a number of changes in recording practices in recent years, along with a clarification of the scope of the firearms return. (See Annex 5.13-5.17) The main changes to the return were:
- From 2005-06, forces agreed to identify weapons whenever possible, based on evidence such as type of damage caused even if the weapon was not recovered. This has led to an increase in the identified firearms categories and a decrease in the number of unidentified firearms. ( Table 3)
- From 2006-07, forces agreed to include incidents involving air weapons where no injury or damage was caused. These incidents were excluded in previous years. This change led to an increase in the total number of offences of reckless conduct with a firearm and the total number of offences involving air weapons. ( Table 1, Table 1A and Table 3)
These changes should be taken into account when considering the following main points:
- In 2008-09, the Scottish police recorded 949 offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used, a decrease of 17 per cent from the total of 1,144 recorded in 2007-08. ( Table 1)
- There was a decrease in the number of offences of reckless conduct with a firearm, from 294 in 2007-08 to 229 in 2008-09 with the figure remaining higher than that recorded in 2005-06 and earlier. The number of 'other crimes and offences' decreased from 234 in 2007-08 to 191 in 2008-09. ( Table 1)
- The number of vandalism offences was 127 in 2008-09, almost unchanged from 124 in 2007-08. The number of minor assaults was 142 in 2008-09, down 29 per cent from 201 in 2007-08. The number of robberies involving the use of a firearm rose from 65 in 2007-08 to 91 in 2008-09. ( Table 1)
- The use of firearms in criminal activity continued to constitute only a small proportion of all offences recorded by the police in 2008-09; 2.0 per cent of recorded homicides (two offences), 3.2 per cent of recorded attempted murders (23 offences), and 3.1 per cent of recorded robberies (91 offences). In each of the remaining three categories, less than 0.4 per cent of offences involved the alleged use of a firearm. ( Table 2)
- Air weapons accounted for 47 per cent (444) of all offences involving firearms in 2008-09, compared to 50 per cent (576) in 2007-08. ( Table 3)
- The number of offences in which a firearm was fired, and which subsequently killed or caused injury to a person, decreased from 212 in 2007-08 to 138 in 2008-09. ( Table 5)
- Of the 138 main victims injured in recorded offences in which a firearm was fired, 102 (74 per cent) were male and 36 (26 per cent) were female. There were no reported offences in which police officers were shot causing injury. Twenty-five main victims (18 per cent) were aged between 11-15 years of age and 21 victims (15 per cent) were aged 10 years or under. ( Table 10)
- In 2008-09, 59 per cent of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used were cleared up, a decrease from 64 per cent cleared up in 2007-08. ( Table 11)
- The Strathclyde police force area contained 43 per cent of the estimated population in Scotland in 2008 and accounted for 47 per cent (445) of all offences in which a firearm was alleged to have been used in 2008-09. ( Table 13)